A variety of protocols exist which enable the remote use of speakers, mics, and displays by devices. The Bluetooth wireless protocol provides a convenient way for cell phones to use external microphones and speakers without any cable attachment. Bluetooth is pervasively available on most cellphones, in most new cars, and in many headset products. The Airplay wireless procotol provides a convenient way for PCs, mobile devices, or other devices to render their audio and video output on a remote display. A similar protocol called Miracast performs the same function, as does DLNA.
Small devices (sometimes called “Internet of Things” devices) with cameras, mics, and speakers are becoming very cheap, and a wide variety of products are becoming available. It is reasonable to expect that a typical house or office may have tens or hundreds of devices with mics and speakers. As speaker/microphone devices become very cheap, there might be one in every room in a house, or even many in a room. Speakers and microphones may become embedded in many other commonly installed devices—TVs, PCs, tablets, etc. And in the office environment, there may be one in every room, and conference rooms may have many inexpensive speakers and mics.
While these devices could work as remote Bluetooth mics and speakers or Airplay speakers, the Bluetooth and Airplay protocols are awkward for this scenario. A user would have to explicitly pair their phone with many mics and speakers, and continually link and unlink to the closest mic and speaker. Additionally, if many users want to use the devices as Bluetooth mics and speakers, the constant linking and unlinking is complicated to manage, with many possibilities for collision and contention.
‘Sensor’ in this context refers to a device or composition of matter that responds to a physical stimulus (as heat, light, sound, pressure, magnetism, or a particular motion) and transmits a resulting impulse (as for measurement or operating a control).
‘Microphone’ in this context refers to an acoustic-to-electric transducer or sensor that converts sound into an electrical signal. Many microphones use electromagnetic induction (dynamic microphone), capacitance change (condenser microphone), piezoelectric generation, or light modulation to produce an electrical voltage signal from mechanical vibration.
‘Camera’ in this context refers to a device that records images and/or video, either as analog or as digital information signals.
‘Stereo’ in this context refers to sound reproduction that creates directionality and audible perspective by using two or more independent audio channels through a configuration of two or more speakers in such a way as to create the impression of sound heard from various directions, as in natural hearing.
‘Speaker’ in this context refers to an electroacoustic transducer that produces sound in response to an electrical or optical audio signal input.
‘Motion detector’ in this context refers to a device that detects moving objects, often people. A motion detector includes a motion sensor that transforms input signals indicative of motion in the field of view into an electric signal. This may be achieved by measuring optical changes in the field of view.
‘Magnetometer’ in this context refers to a device used to measure the strength and, in some cases, the direction of magnetic fields.
‘LED’ in this context refers to (light emitting diode) a semiconductor light source including one or more diodes that when biased release energy in the form of photons.
‘GPS’ in this context refers to (Global Positioning System) a space-based satellite navigation system that provides location and time information in most weather conditions, anywhere on or near the Earth where there is an unobstructed line of sight to four or more GPS satellites. The system provides critical capabilities to military, civil and commercial users around the world. It is maintained by the United States government and is freely accessible to anyone with a GPS receiver.
‘Multimedia’ in this context refers to an image, or a set of images, or a video clip, or a set of video clips, and any audio associated with the images or video clips.
‘Image’ in this context refers to information captured and stored by a device representing a visual perception, usually a two-dimensional picture. Images may be captured, stored, and communicated by devices in either analog or digital formats.
‘Video’ in this context refers to information captured and stored by a device representing a sequence of moving pictures. Video may be captured, stored, and communicated by devices in either analog or digital formats.
‘Audio’ in this context refers to a representation of sound within a device or a physical storage or communication media, typically as either analog or digital signals.
‘API’ in this context refers to (Application Programming Interface) a protocol for interfacing to and invoking functions and data of logic components. For example, an API may include specification for logic procedures (functions, routines), data structures, object classes, and variables.
‘Synchronize’ in this context refers to operating in unison, so that the operation or occurance of one component or signal is timed to take place at or close to the operation or occurance of another component or signal.
‘Monitor’ in this context refers to measuring or recording on an ongoing or recurring basis for a specific purpose.
‘Configure’ in this context refers to setting up for operation in a particular way.
‘Integrate’ in this context refers to forming, coordinating, and/or blending into a functioning and unified whole.
‘Mechanism’ in this context refers to a process, technique, device, or system of devices for achieving a result.
‘Biometric’ in this context refers to a measurement and analysis of a unique physical or behavioral characteristic of an individual, as a mechanism of verifying the individual's identity.
‘Coordinate’ in this context refers to a process or configuration of bringing objects or signals into a common action or condition.
‘Process (Data)’ in this context refers to (data processing) any process that utilizes device logic to manipulate signals representing numeric values or symbols into control signals to a circuit, output device, or communication media. Data processing may involve recording, analyzing, sorting, summarizing, calculating, disseminating and storing electrical, optical, or magnetic signals representing numbers or symbols. Data-processing devices and systems of devices typically manipulate data signals to alter the material configuration of machine memory devices or the behavior of circuits or output devices.
‘Resource (Device)’ in this context refers to any physical or virtual component of limited quantity and/or availability within a device. Every device connected to a computer system is a resource. Every internal system component is a resource. Virtual system resources of data processing devices include files, network connections and memory areas.
‘Session’ in this context refers to an exchange of signals between two or more communicating devices, or between a device and a person, that begins with an explicit set up procedure and ends at a certain point in time, either implicitly or by being torn down. Signals between the devices between establishment of the session and the end of the session are not part of the session. An established communication session may involve more than one message in each direction. A session is sometimes stateful, meaning that at least one of the communicating parts needs to save information about the session establishment or history in order to be able to communicate, as opposed to stateless communication, where the communication comprises independent requests with responses and no requirement of stored state to maintain communication.
‘Database’ in this context refers to an organized collection of data (states of matter representing values, symbols, or control signals to device logic), structured typically into tables that comprise ‘rows’ and ‘columns’, although this structure is not implemented in every case.
‘Application (logic)’ in this context refers to logic that causes a computer to perform tasks beyond the basic operation of the computer itself. The term “application” may be abbreviated in some contexts to simply “app”. An application may be logic built upon or integrated with operating system logic. Examples of application logic include enterprise software, accounting software, office suites, graphics software, games, web browsers, and media players. Applications may be bundled with the computer and its system software or published separately. Application logic applies the capabilities of a particular computing platform or system software to a particular purpose. Some applications are available in versions for several different platforms; others have narrower requirements and are thus called, for example, a Geography application for Windows or an Android application for education or Linux gaming.
‘Operating system (logic)’ in this context refers to logic that manages device hardware resources and provides common services for application logic. The operating system is a vital component of many devices, such as computers and mobile phones. Application logic usually requires an operating system in order to function. Operating systems typically manage utilization of device resources, such as I/O devices, displays, processor utilization, memory, mass storage, and printing. The operating system acts as an intermediary between applications and the hardware resources, although applications are often (though not always, in the case of virtual machines) executed directly by the device hardware (e.g., one or more CPUs) and will frequently make system calls to the operating system, or be interrupted by it. Operating systems can be found on almost any device that contains a programmable processor or controller, from cellular phones and video game consoles to supercomputers and web servers.
‘Distributed (logic)’ in this context refers to logic that cooperatively executes on multiple different devices, separated in space and each capable of operating independently of the others. Web services may be designed as distributed logic, with many different independent devices in disparate locations cooperating to provide a common set of features.
‘Web service (logic)’ in this context refers to logic which can be invoked to provide functionality to network devices at a network address over the Internet or a private network. A web service provides interoperable machine-to-machine interaction to make available a set of functionality over a network.
‘MMOG (logic)’ in this context refers to “Massively Multiplayer Online Game”.
‘SOC (logic)’ in this context refers to “System-On-A-Chip”, also sometimes called PSOC (Programmable System on a Chip), is logic that integrates all components of a computer or other electronic system into a single integrated circuit. The package may comprise digital, analog, mixed-signal, and often radio-frequency functions—all on a single integrated circuit substrate. A common use for SOCs is in embedded systems.
‘Server (logic)’ in this context refers to logic designed to respond to requests for functionality from client logic that interacts with the server logic via a request/response model, often over a network. Thus, the server performs some operation utilizing the underlying resources of the device or devices hosting the server, on behalf of clients (request submitters). The client logic either executes on the same device or devices as the server logic, or interacts with the server logic through a machine data network.
‘Data center (logic)’ in this context refers to a facility used to house computer systems and associated components, such as telecommunications and storage systems. It generally includes redundant or backup power supplies, redundant data communications connections, environmental controls (e.g., air conditioning, fire suppression) and security devices, as well as hundreds or thousands of server systems. Large data centers are industrial scale operations.
‘Engine (logic)’ in this context refers to logic designed to respond to requests for functionality from applications, and designed to deliver events to applications. The engine operates independently from applications, performing arbitrary processing, and can provide services to several applications simultaneously. The engine may response to a specific request from an application, or may deliver notifications or events to the application based on actions elsewhere in the system.
‘Game engine (logic)’ in this context refers to logic design to respond to request for functionality from game applications, and designed to deliver events to game applications. The game engine may keep track of game state shared by several players, may notify game applications of the arrival or departure of players, may forward commands and events from one player to another, or provide any other services for a game.
‘WiFi’ in this context refers to technology that allows an electronic device to exchange data wirelessly (for example, using radio waves) over a computer network, including Internet connections. WiFi can refer to wireless local area network (WLAN) communication logic and techniques that are based on the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers' (IEEE) 802.11 standards.
‘BlueTooth’ in this context refers to standard IEEE 802.15.1, is a wireless technology standard for exchanging data over short distances (using short-wavelength radio transmissions in the ISM band from 2400-2480 MHz) from fixed and mobile devices, creating for example personal area networks with levels of security.
‘Ethernet’ in this context refers to a family of computer networking technologies for local area networks (LANs). The Ethernet standards comprise several wiring and signaling variants of the OSI physical layer. Ethernet may operate over physical transmission media including coaxial cables, twisted pair, and fiber optic. Ethernet divides a stream of data into shorter pieces called frames. Each frame contains source and destination addresses and error-checking data so that damaged data can be detected and re-transmitted. As per the OSI model Ethernet provides services up to and including the data link layer.
‘Z-Wave’ in this context refers to a wireless communications protocol designed for home automation, specifically to remotely control applications in residential and light commercial environments. The technology uses a low-power RF radio embedded or retrofitted into home electronics devices and systems, such as lighting, home access control, entertainment systems and household appliances. Z-Wave communicates using a low-power wireless technology designed for remote control applications. The Z-Wave wireless protocol provides reliable, low-latency communication of small data packets. Z-Wave operates in the sub-gigahertz frequency range, around 900 MHz.
‘RFID’ in this context refers to (radio-frequency identification), a wireless non-contact system that uses radio-frequency electromagnetic fields to transfer data from a self-contained tag attached to an object. Some tags require no intrinsic power source and are powered and read at short ranges via magnetic fields (electromagnetic induction). Others use an intrinsic or local power source and emit radio waves (electromagnetic radiation at radio frequencies). The tag contains electronically stored information which may be read from a short distance away. The tag does not need to be within line of sight of the reader and may be embedded in the tracked object.
‘Backhaul’ in this context refers to the intermediate links between a network and devices on the edge of the network (i.e., leaf nodes of the network). Backhaul may refer to the portions of a local or intermediate network (e.g., Internet Service Provider) that communicate with the global Internet.
‘Mesh network’ in this context refers to a type of device network where each node (device) must not only input, store, and disseminate its own data, but also serve as a relay for other nodes. That is, each device that acts as a node in a mesh network must collaborate to propagate data communicated from other nodes in the network.
‘Modem’ in this context refers to (modulator-demodulator) a device that modulates an analog carrier signal to encode digital information, and also demodulates such a carrier signal to decode the transmitted information.
‘Phone line’ in this context refers to a circuit on a telephone communication system, typically referring to the physical wire or other signaling medium connecting or capable of connecting a telephone device to the telecommunications network, and usually associated with a telephone number for addressing communications to and from the connected telephone.
‘Cable (Line)’ in this context refers to a physical media for distributing data, audio streams, and video streams to end devices in homes and offices via radio frequency (RF) signals transmitted (typically) through coaxial cables or light pulses through fiber-optic cables.
‘Cellular (Device)’ in this context refers to a device that can place and receive voice communication calls, and typically also communicate non-voice data, over a radio link while moving around a wide geographic area. Cellular devices connect to a cellular network provided by a cellular system operator (e.g., a phone company), allowing access thereby to the public (wired communication) telephone network and usually to the global Internet as well.
‘Peer-to-peer’ in this context refers to a device network in which each device acting as a node in the network may act as a client or server for the other nodes in the network, allowing shared access to various resources such as files, peripherals, and sensors without necessarily utilizing a central server device.
‘IP’ in this context refers to (Internet Protocol) a primary protocol in the Internet protocol suite designed to enable delivery of data packets from a source device to a destination device based on an address (i.e., an IP address). IP defines datagram structures that encapsulate the data to be delivered. It also defines addressing mechanisms to identify the datagram source and destination devices.
‘FTP’ in this context refers to (File Transfer Protocol) a standard network protocol to enable the transfer of files (collections of data that may be stored, referenced, and manipulated as a unit) from one device or to another device over a TCP-based network, such as the Internet. ‘TCP’ in this context refers to (Transmission Control Protocol) a primary protocol of the Internet protocol suite, enabling reliable, ordered delivery of a stream of octets from one device to another over device networks, such as the Internet.
‘UV’ in this context refers to (ultraviolet) electromagnetic radiation with a wavelength shorter than that of visible light, but longer than X-rays, that is, in the range 10 nm to 400 nm, corresponding to photon energies from 3 eV to 124 eV.
‘IR’ in this context refers to (infrared) electromagnetic radiation with longer wavelengths than those of visible light, extending from the nominal red edge of the visible spectrum at 0.74 micrometers (μm) to 0.3 mm. This range of wavelengths corresponds to a frequency range of approximately 430 down to 1 THz,[1] and includes most of the thermal radiation emitted by objects near room temperature.
‘RF’ in this context refers to (radio frequency) a rate of oscillation in the range of about 3 kHz to 300 GHz, which corresponds to the frequency of electromagnetic radio waves, and the alternating currents which carry radio signals. RF usually refers to electrical rather than mechanical oscillations, although mechanical RF systems do exist.
‘DNS’ in this context refers to (Domain Name Service) an collection of devices and logic implementing a hierarchical distributed naming system for devices, services (Internet accessible logic), or any resource connected to the Internet or a private network. A DNS system translates domain names meaningful for users (people using the network) to the numerical IP addresses needed for the purpose of locating devices, services, and resources worldwide.
‘Web site’ in this context refers to a set of one or more web pages served from a single web domain. A web site is presented for access by external devices by at least one web server, and accessible via a network such as the Internet or a private local area network through an Internet address known as a Uniform Resource Locator.
‘URL’ in this context refers to (Uniform Resource Locator) a character string that comprises a reference to a network resource, typically one that is accessible to a web browser via an interaction with a web server.
‘Web page’ in this context refers to a file configured for access and display via a web browser over the Internet, or Internet-compatible networks.
‘Web browser’ in this context refers to logic for retrieving, presenting and traversing information resources on the World Wide Web. An information resource is identified by a Uniform Resource Identifier (URI) and may be a web page, image, video or other piece of content. Hyperlinks present in resources enable users easily to navigate their browsers to related resources. A web browser can also be defined as an application software or program designed to enable users to access, retrieve and view documents and other resources on the Internet.
‘Web server’ in this context refers to a device or device system that delivers web pages in response to requests for the web pages from web browsers.
‘Web domain’ in this context refers to an Internet Protocol (IP) resource, such as a personal computer used to access the Internet, a web server computer hosting a web site, the web site itself, or any other service communicated via the Internet.
‘RSS’ in this context refers to (Really Simple Syndication) a family of data formats and techniques to publish frequently updated works of authorship. An RSS document (which is called a “feed”, “web feed”, or “channel”) may include full or summarized text, plus metadata such as publishing dates and authorship.
‘Cloud (Network)’ in this context refers to device resources delivered as a service over a network (typically the Internet).